ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how President Bill Clinton structured his advisory system in the initial months of his presidency. It places Clinton in a framework built from previous studies that suggest how a president’s leadership style influences the way he organizes and coordinates his advisory system. Presidents appear to differ in how they coordinate the policymaking process. Coordination among advisers typically takes one of two forms— either a focus on building concurrence among relevant advisers or a focus on accomplishing a task. Translated to the presidential advisory system, presidents with a focus on group satisfaction and organizational survival will want advisers who feel empowered, who believe that their opinions and interests count, but who function best in a climate of cooperation and trust. An examination of Clinton’s terms as governor, his presidential campaign, and his early days in the presidency suggests that he has had to learn each time not to trust his predispositions when it comes to advisory systems.
